Exploring Potentials and Challenges of Micro-learning in ESP Material Design: A systematic review

Abstract

Microlearning has emerged both as a promising technique to deliver the lesson and an approach to design the materials for language learning, particularly in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This study aimed to investigate the employment of microlearning in ESP and ESP materials design, focusing on its potentials and challenges. Systematic research of the literature is conducted to identify studies that reported the use of micro-learning in ESP and ESP materials design. There were 5 articles selected in the years of 2016-2022 that met the criteria of this paper through the search by using Publish or Perish and Google Scholars. The findings showed that micro-learning has been limitedly employed in ESP and ESP materials design. The review highlights that micro-learning has the potentials to enhance ESP learning by facilitating abundant of digital materials, providing bite-sized learning, facilitating self-paced learning, empowering students active role, saving a cost and time, facilitating accurate and reusable knowledge, improving memory retention, enabling feedback and discussion, learning in short time, enhancing learning flexibility, and providing relevant content. In ESP materials design, microlearning provides a stimulus for learning and value the utilizing multimedia in the process of learning. However, the implementation of micro-learning in ESP and ESP materials design has various challenges; the need for appropriate technology, poor learning initiative, creating the new culture of learning, the lack students time, the lack of teachers familiarity of the technology used, the needs to adaptions in designing the materials based on the principles of microlearning, material development, and ESP materials.